How did humans and their behaviour affect and change the natural world during the Middle Ages? And what, in turn, was the impact of environmental changes on the minds and identities of humans? In this book historians of literature, art, mentalities, law and natural science suggest answers to these questions, focussing on the most vital elements of Europe's environment: animals, plants, and landscape. In their interdisciplinary approach, wide variety of source material and specific findings, these studies present a multifaceted picture of environmental history and reveal a broad range of attitudes towards the natural world current in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. Moreover these case studies help us to understand various ways in which medieval developments shaped our modern world and minds.